Terminal apparatus, control method therefor, computer-readable recording medium, and application system

ABSTRACT

A terminal apparatus includes an inquiry unit that sends an inquiry, from a game used in the terminal apparatus among at least two games provided by an application system, about an invitation to another game, to an invitation information management unit of a management apparatus; an invitation information receiving unit that receives invitation information corresponding to the inquiry; and a display control unit that displays, on a display unit, details of the invitation according to the invitation information.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation Application of PCT Application No.PCT/JP2013/062172, filed Apr. 25, 2013, and is based on and claims thebenefit of priority from prior Japanese Patent Application No.2012-102301, filed Apr. 27, 2012, the entire contents of both of whichare incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a terminal apparatus used in anapplication system that provides a plurality of applications.

BACKGROUND ART

In recent years, services that provide applications on the Internet haverapidly become widespread. As one example of this type of service, theSNS (Social Network Service) provides applications such as games formembers, who are site users. The SNS manages membership information thatidentifies the members. The same user has different user information(hereafter called an account) in different applications. The SNSassociates these accounts with the membership information so as to beable to provide connected services related to a plurality ofapplications. In the connected services, users who know each other canrecognize which applications they use. (See Patent Document 1, forexample.)

In applications such as games, there is a case in which users establisha companion relationship and cooperate with each other to proceed in thegame. In an application system that provides connected services, thereis a case in which a user invites another user to a game being used bythe user.

CITATION LIST Patent Document

Patent Document 1: Unexamined Japanese Patent Application PublicationNo. 2007-206823

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Technical Problem

There are applications that do not rely on the SNS and that can be usedby persons who are not members of the SNS (hereafter called generalapplications). Even in such general applications, since the accounts areincompatible, connected services related to the general applicationscannot be provided to the users. Therefore, in the case where thegeneral application is a game, there are situations in which a usercannot invite a companion in another game to a game being used by theuser.

In consideration of the above situations, an object of the presentinvention is to provide a terminal apparatus that allows a user whowants to make an invitation to a game being played by the user to invitea companion in another game, the games having incompatible accounts, andthat also allows the user to be invited to recognize the invitation tothe inviting game.

Solution to Problem

Means employed by the present invention to achieve the above-describedobject will be described below.

To achieve the foregoing object, in one aspect, the present inventionprovides a terminal apparatus used in an application system whichincludes a management apparatus that issues and manages pieces ofidentification information, each piece uniquely identifying a user, withregard to each of at least two application apparatuses which provideusers with applications that are different from one another, and thatmanages the pieces of identification information by associating thepieces of identification information respectively corresponding to eachof the at least two application apparatuses with one another for anidentical user, and an invitation information management unit thatmanages invitation information inviting a user to a first applicationused by an inviting user, the user to be invited having a specificrelationship with the inviting user in a second application. Theterminal apparatus includes an inquiry unit configured to send aninquiry about whether the invitation information indicating theinvitation to the first application exists, to the invitationinformation management unit from the second application used in theterminal apparatus of the user to be invited; an invitation informationreceiving unit configured to receive the invitation informationcorresponding to the inquiry; and a display control unit configured todisplay details of the invitation according to the invitationinformation on a display unit.

In another aspect, the present invention provides a control method for aterminal apparatus having a display unit and used in an applicationsystem which includes a management apparatus that issues and managespieces of identification information, each piece uniquely identifying auser, with regard to each of at least two application apparatuses whichprovide users with applications that are different from one another, andthat manages the pieces of identification information by associating thepieces of identification information respectively corresponding to eachof the at least two application apparatuses with one another for anidentical user, and an invitation information management unit thatmanages invitation information inviting a user to a first applicationused by an inviting user, the user to be invited having a specificrelationship with the inviting user in a second application. The controlmethod includes sending an inquiry about whether the invitationinformation indicating the invitation to the first application exists,to the invitation information management unit from the secondapplication used in the terminal apparatus of the user to be invited;receiving the invitation information corresponding to the inquiry; anddisplaying, on the display unit, details of the invitation according tothe invitation information.

In still another aspect, the present invention provides acomputer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program fora terminal apparatus having a computer and a display unit and used in anapplication system which includes a management apparatus that issues andmanages pieces of identification information, each piece uniquelyidentifying a user, with regard to each of at least two applicationapparatuses which provide users with applications that are differentfrom one another, and that manages the pieces of identificationinformation by associating the pieces of identification informationrespectively corresponding to each of the at least two applicationapparatuses with one another for an identical user, and an invitationinformation management unit that manages invitation information invitinga user to a first application used by an inviting user, the user to beinvited having a specific relationship with the inviting user in asecond application. The program makes the computer execute an inquiryprocess of sending an inquiry about whether the invitation informationindicating the invitation to the first application exists, to theinvitation information management unit from the second application usedin the terminal apparatus of the user to be invited; an invitationinformation receiving process of receiving the invitation informationcorresponding to the inquiry; and a display control process ofdisplaying, on the display unit, details of the invitation according tothe invitation information.

In yet another aspect, the present invention also provides acomputer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a programbuilt in a program of an application installed in a terminal apparatushaving a computer and a display unit and used in an application systemwhich includes a management apparatus that issues and manages pieces ofidentification information, each piece uniquely identifying a user, withregard to each of at least two application apparatuses which provideusers with applications that are different from one another, and thatmanages the pieces of identification information by associating thepieces of identification information respectively corresponding to eachof the at least two application apparatuses with one another for anidentical user, and an invitation information management unit thatmanages invitation information inviting a user to a first applicationused by an inviting user, the user to be invited having a specificrelationship with the inviting user in a second application. Thebuilt-in program makes the computer execute an inquiry process ofsending an inquiry about whether the invitation information indicatingthe invitation to the first application exists, to the invitationinformation management unit from the second application used in theterminal apparatus of the user to be invited; an invitation informationreceiving process of receiving the invitation information correspondingto the inquiry; and a display control process of displaying, on thedisplay unit, details of the invitation according to the invitationinformation.

In one aspect, the present invention provides an application systemwhich includes at least two application apparatuses that provide userswith applications which are different from one another and that manage,for each of the applications, relationship information indicating aspecific relationship between users; a user terminal apparatus; and amanagement apparatus that issues and manages pieces of identificationinformation, each uniquely identifying a user, with regard to each ofthe at least two application apparatuses. The management apparatusincludes an issuing unit configured to issue, when a second applicationis specified in a first application used in the terminal apparatus of aninviting user, an identifier in association with first identificationinformation that is identification information of the inviting user,corresponding to the first application; a receiving unit configured toreceive through a predetermined path, after the identifier issued by theissuing unit is passed from the first application to the secondapplication in the terminal apparatus of the inviting user, a pair ofthe identifier and second identification information that isidentification information corresponding to the second application; amanagement unit configured to manage, in association with each other,the first identification information and the second identificationinformation for which the identifier issued by the issuing unit matchesthe identifier received by the receiving unit, and to manage therelationship information acquired from the at least two applicationapparatuses; a reporting unit configured to acquire the secondidentification information corresponding to the first identificationinformation of the inviting user and to report the relationshipinformation corresponding to the second identification information tothe terminal apparatus of the inviting user when the second applicationis specified in the first application used in the terminal apparatus ofthe inviting user; and an invitation information management unitconfigured to manage, when a user to be invited is specified, in theterminal apparatus of the inviting user, from among at least one userwho is a candidate user to be invited, identified by the reportedrelationship information, invitation information indicating that thespecified user to be invited is invited to the first application. Whenan inquiry about whether invitation information exists is received fromthe terminal apparatus, if the invitation information management unitmanages invitation information specifying the user of the terminalapparatus as the user to be invited, the reporting unit reports theinvitation information to the inquiring terminal apparatus. The terminalapparatus includes an inquiry unit configured to send an inquiry aboutwhether the invitation information indicating the invitation to thefirst application exists, to the invitation information management unitfrom the second application used in the terminal apparatus of the userto be invited; an invitation information receiving unit configured toreceive the invitation information corresponding to the inquiry; and adisplay control unit configured to display, on a display unit, detailsof the invitation according to the invitation information.

In another aspect, the present invention also provides an applicationsystem which includes at least two application apparatuses that provideusers with applications which are different from one another and thatmanage, for each of the applications, relationship informationindicating a specific relationship between users; a user terminalapparatus; and a management apparatus that issues and manages pieces ofidentification information, each uniquely identifying a user with regardto each of the at least two application apparatuses. The managementapparatus includes an issuing unit configured to issue, when a secondapplication is specified in a first application used in the terminalapparatus of an inviting user, an identifier in association with firstidentification information that is identification information of theinviting user, corresponding to the first application; a receiving unitconfigured to receive through a predetermined path, after the identifierissued by the issuing unit is passed from the first application to thesecond application in the terminal apparatus of the inviting user, apair of the identifier and second identification information that isidentification information corresponding to the second application; amanagement unit configured to manage, in association with each other,the first identification information and the second identificationinformation for which the identifier issued by the issuing unit matchesthe identifier received by the receiving unit, and to manage therelationship information acquired from the at least two applicationapparatuses; and a reporting unit configured to acquire the secondidentification information corresponding to the first identificationinformation of the inviting user and to report the relationshipinformation corresponding to the second identification information tothe terminal apparatus of the inviting user when the second applicationis specified in the first application used in the terminal apparatus ofthe inviting user. Each of the application apparatuses includes aninvitation information management unit, after the relationshipinformation corresponding to the second identification information isreceived from the management apparatus, when a user to be invited isspecified, in the terminal apparatus of the inviting user, from among atleast one user who is a candidate user to be invited, identified by therelationship information of the inviting user, and invitationinformation indicating that the specified user to be invited is invitedto the first application is sent to an application apparatuscorresponding to the second application, the invitation informationmanagement unit being configured to manage the invitation information.When an inquiry about whether invitation information exists is receivedfrom the terminal apparatus, if the invitation information managementunit manages invitation information specifying the user of the terminalapparatus as the user to be invited, the invitation information isreported to the inquiring terminal apparatus. The terminal apparatusincludes an inquiry unit configured to send an inquiry about whether theinvitation information indicating the invitation to the firstapplication exists, to the invitation information management unit fromthe second application used in the terminal apparatus of the user to beinvited; an invitation information receiving unit configured to receivethe invitation information corresponding to the inquiry; and a displaycontrol unit configured to display, on a display unit, details of theinvitation according to the invitation information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an application system according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2A is a view showing an outline of processing for associatingaccounts.

FIG. 2B is a view showing an outline of processing for inquiring aboutan invitation request.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a structure of a management server.

FIG. 4 is a view showing an example data structure of a user informationtable.

FIG. 5 is a view showing an example data structure of an ID managementtable.

FIG. 6 is a view showing an example data structure of a companionrelationship table.

FIG. 7 is a view showing an example data structure of an invitationtable.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a structure of a terminal apparatus.

FIG. 9 is a sequence chart showing details of acquiring processing foracquiring friend network identification information.

FIG. 10 is a sequence chart showing details of companion relationshipsynchronizing processing.

FIG. 11 is a sequence chart showing details of inviting processing.

FIG. 12 is a sequence chart showing details of acquiring processing foracquiring friend network identification information according to amodification.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

An application system using a management server according to anembodiment of the present invention will be described below withreference to the drawings.

1. Structure of Application System

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an application system 100 according to anembodiment of the present invention. The application system 100 includesa communication network NET such as the Internet, user terminalapparatuses 2, a management server 3, and application servers 4A, 4B,4C, . . . . The application servers 4A, 4B, 4C, . . . manage useraccounts individually and provide the users with individual services byusing respective applications. In this example, the application servers4A, 4B, 4C, . . . provide game A, game B, game C, . . . , respectivelyas individual services. Game A, game B, game C, . . . can be browsergames provided by browsers, but, in this example, it is assumed that theprograms of game A, game B, game C, . . . are downloaded into userterminal apparatuses 2, are installed in the terminal apparatuses 2, andare executed thereon. In this case, the application servers 4A, 4B, 4C,. . . manage game data of users of game A, game B, game C, . . . andprovide the users with score rankings and other data.

The application servers 4A, 4B, 4C, . . . provide various types ofapplications (for sharing photos and video, for example) such as game A,game B, game C, . . . and may have a function for exchangingcommunications among users in addition to the individual servicesprovided by the applications. Users of each application can use such acommunication function to acquire points that can be exchanged in thegame by establishing companion relationships with users who play thesame game (application) to communicate with one another by greetings andcomments. The more companions you have, the more easily you proceed in agame because you can obtain support from your companions in a battle inthe game. A companion relationship is made, for example, when a usermakes a companion offer and the offer-destination user approves it.

The management server 3 can communicate with the application servers 4A,4B, 4C, . . . . The user terminal apparatuses 2 can performcommunication through the communication network NET, and are, forexample, personal computers or portable telephones.

To provide users with connected services related to a plurality of gamesthat do not rely on the SNS, it is necessary to associate accounts usedin the games with one another. When the accounts are associated with oneanother, it becomes possible for a user who is playing a game to invite,to that game, another user who is a companion of the user in anothergame, as example connected services. Specifically, when a user of game Auses game B, the user can invite a user with whom the user has acompanion relationship in game B, to game A.

In such games that do not rely on the SNS, when a user invites anotheruser to a game being used by the user, a social medium or an email hasbeen used conventionally. However, it is not clear whether a user to beinvited uses a social medium. The email address may be unknown. A userwith whom a companion relationship has been made in a game does notnecessarily have a friendship relationship in actual society. It isdifficult to identify, in a social medium, the user to be invitedbecause the user name (nickname) known in the game does not match theuser name (account) used in email or the social medium used in actualsociety. Therefore, a user with whom a companion relationship has beenmade in a game cannot be invited in some cases by using the socialmedium or email. When accounts used in a plurality of games that do notrely on the SNS are associated, it becomes possible for a user who isplaying a game to invite to that game another user who is a companion ofthe user in another game.

To make an invitation, it is necessary first to associate the account ingame A (example of application A) and the account in game B (example ofapplication B) of a user who makes the invitation (inviting user).Second, it is necessary to identify a user who has a companionrelationship in game B with the inviting user. Since this processingneeds to be performed over the different applications, neither theapplication server 4A nor the application server 4B can execute theprocessing alone.

The management server 3 executes associating processing for associatingthe account in game A and the account in game B of the inviting user,and inviting processing for providing the inviting user with a candidatefor a user who receives the invitation (a user to be invited).

1.1 Outline of Associating Processing

An outline of the associating processing will be described withreference to FIG. 2A. When a user registers an account, the applicationservers 4A and 4B generate local identification information (hereaftercalled LocalID). This LocalID is identification information uniquelyidentifying each user in each of the application servers 4A and 4B.Therefore, the same user has different LocalIDs, which are incompatible.

At a desired timing after the LocalIDs are generated, the applicationservers 4A and 4B request the management server 3 to issue friendnetwork identification information (hereafter called FNWID). The FNWIDsare identification information for identifying the users in the entireapplication system 100 and are managed collectively by the managementserver 3. The management server 3 issues FNWIDs in response to FNWIDissue requests sent from the application servers 4A and 4B. Therefore,different FNWIDs are issued even if the user of game A and the user ofgame B are the same user.

The application server 4A manages, in association with each other, theFNWID (example of first identification information) and the LocalID thatuniquely identifies each of a plurality of users who use game A, and theapplication server 4B manages, in association with each other, the FNWID(example of second identification information) and the LocalID thatuniquely identifies each of a plurality of users who use game B.

In this example, it is assumed that the FNWID issued in response to theFNWID issue request sent from the application server 4A for a user whoplays game A is called FNWIDa, the LocalID corresponding to FNWIDa iscalled LocalIDa, the FNWID issued in response to the FNWID issue requestsent from the application server 4B, corresponding to game B, for thesame user who plays game A is called FNWIDb, the LocalID correspondingto FNWIDb is called LocalIDb, type information corresponding to game Ais called AppIDa, and type information corresponding to game B is calledAppIDb. FNWIDa is stored in the management server 3, the applicationserver 4A, and the terminal apparatus 2. In the same manner, FNWIDb isstored in the management server 3, the application server 4B, and theterminal apparatus 2. LocalIDa is stored in the application server 4A,and LocalIDb is stored in the application server 4B. When FNWIDa andFNWIDb are issued, the management server 3 cannot yet recognize thatthey are identification information issued to the same user.

In the associating processing for associating FNWIDa with FNWIDb, themanagement server 3 issues a token Tx (identifier) corresponding toFNWIDa and sends the token Tx to the application server 4A (S1). Theapplication server 4A sends the received token Tx to game A of theterminal apparatus 2 corresponding to FNWIDa (S2). The timing at whichthe management server 3 sends the token Tx to the application server 4A(S1) and the timing at which the application server 4A sends the tokenTx to the terminal apparatus 2 (S2) need not be linked. For example, theapplication server 4A may send the token Tx to the terminal apparatus 2in response to a request made by the terminal apparatus 2.

Then, in the terminal apparatus 2, the token Tx is passed from game Acorresponding to FNWIDa to game B corresponding to FNWIDb (S3). Thepassed token Tx and FNWIDb are sent from game B to the applicationserver 4B (S4). The application server 4B sends the token Tx and FNWIDbto the management server 3 (S5). In the process for passing the token Txfrom game A to game B (S3), a predetermined area (application sharearea) in a storage device 23 (see FIG. 8) of the terminal apparatus 2may be involved.

In this manner, the token Tx issued by the management server 3 inassociation with FNWIDa is transferred from the application server 4A tothe management server 3 through game A in the terminal apparatus 2, gameB in the terminal apparatus 2, and the application server 4B, and isreceived in association with FNWIDb. The management server 3 searchestokens already issued. When the received token matches an issued token,the management server 3 associates FNWID corresponding to the receivedtoken with FNWID corresponding to the issued token. In this example, thereceived token is Tx, and the FNWID corresponding thereto is FNWIDb. Inthe management server 3, the token Tx that matches the received token Txis associated with FNWIDa. Therefore, the management server 3 canassociate FNWIDa with FNWIDb. For example, reference identificationinformation (hereafter called RefID) common to FNWIDa and FNWIDb isissued. When an RefID common to FNWIDa and FNWIDb is called RefIDx here,FNWIDa and FNWIDb are stored in association with RefIDx, as shown inFIG. 2A, to associate FNWIDa with FNWIDb.

With respect to the above-described associating processing, themanagement server 3 shown in FIG. 1 can communicate with a plurality ofapplication servers that include the application server 4A (example offirst application apparatus) that provides game A (example of firstapplication) and the application server 4B (example of secondapplication apparatus) that provides game B (example of secondapplication), and issues FNWIDa (first identification information)uniquely identifying each of a plurality of users who use game A andFNWIDb (second identification information) uniquely identifying each ofa plurality of users who use game B and manages them.

The management server 3 also includes an issuing unit 11 for issuing atoken (example identifier) associated with FNWIDa of a user to theapplication server 4A, a receiving unit 12 for receiving the tokenpassed from game A to game B in a terminal apparatus 2 in which game Aand game B are available, from the application server 4B, and amanagement unit 13 for managing, in association with each other, FNWIDaand FNWIDb for which the token issued by the issuing unit 11 and thetoken received by the receiving unit 12 match. When the managementserver 3 executes the inviting processing, the user here is an invitinguser who makes an invitation to game A.

Here, a game is an example application. The receiving unit 12 receivesthe token passed from game A to game B, but the route of the token canbe freely selected. For example, the token may be directly received fromthe terminal apparatus 2, or the token may be indirectly receivedthrough the application server 4B (second application apparatus). Thetrigger for passing the token from game A to game B may be based on anoperation of the user, an automatic process in game A, or on a programprocess executed in the terminal apparatus, activated by game A. So longas it can be checked whether the token issued by the issuing unit andthe token received by the receiving unit match, any generation methodcan be used, and the token can have any contents. For example, the tokenmay be a unique character string in which alphanumeric characters arecombined.

On the other hand, the terminal apparatus 2 includes a storage unit 205for storing an FNWID (example identification information) for eachavailable game (an example application). The terminal apparatus 2further includes an acquiring unit 207 for acquiring the token thatcorresponds to FNWIDa in game A being used and that was issued by themanagement server 3. The terminal apparatus 2 also includes anidentifier reporting unit 208 for reporting to the management server 3,through a predetermined path, a pair of the token acquired by theacquiring unit 207 and FNWIDb in game B. For example, the storage unit205 of the terminal apparatus 2 stores FNWIDa corresponding to game Aand FNWIDb corresponding to game B. When game B is selected during gameA in the terminal apparatus 2, the acquiring unit 207 acquires the tokencorresponding to FNWIDa, which identifies the inviting user in game Abeing used, and is issued by the issuing unit 11 of the managementserver 3. The identifier reporting unit 208 sends to the managementserver 3, through the predetermined path, the set of the token acquiredby the acquiring unit 207 and the FNWIDb corresponding to game B.

By doing so, even if a new account to be managed by the user is not setup in the management server 3, the management server 3 can manage, inassociation with each other, the account for the application server 4Aand the account for the application server 4B, the servers beingoperated independently, by passing around the token through apredetermined path. In other words, it is not necessary for the user tobe conscious of the management server 3. When the accounts of the sameuser for different games are associated in this manner, it is possibleto provide the users with connected services related to the plurality ofgames. For example, in the connected services, it is possible todisplay, on a game screen of a game, a companion list in another game.Displaying the companion list enables connected services in which acompanion in the other game can be invited to the game currently beingused. As described above, the associating processing is executed whenanother game is selected in the terminal apparatus 2 of the user.Supposedly, if the associating processing is executed as required forall users irrespective of the selection of the other game, theprocessing load of the management server 3 increases. However, since theassociating processing is executed at a timing at which a predeterminedprocess takes place, such as when the other game is selected, in thepresent embodiment, efficient association can be made, and theprocessing load of the management server 3 decreases. The associatingprocessing may be executed, not after the selection of the other game,but before the selection of the other game. In other words, theassociating processing may be executed when the user requests theassociating processing, which associates a plurality of FNWIDs. When theassociating processing is executed at a timing at which a predeterminedprocess occurs, as described above, the processing load of themanagement server 3 decreases in comparison with a case in which, whenthe same user has a plurality of FNWIDs, the associating processing isexecuted for a set of all FNWIDs.

The management unit 13 of the management server 3 acquires a companionlist (example of relationship information) indicating specificrelationships between users in each of the plurality of games from eachof the plurality of application servers 4 and manages the list.Therefore, the companion lists managed separately by the plurality ofapplication servers 4 can be collectively managed by the managementserver 3.

Here, in the game (example application) provided by each of theplurality of application servers 4 (example application apparatuses),specific relationships with other users are formed in the game. Thespecific relationships include, for example, if the application is agame, a companion relationship in which a user can cooperate withanother user when proceeding in the game. Cooperation in the game meansproceeding in the game together with a companion or making game data,such as the game ability value of a companion, available. The specificrelationships may include a blocked relationship in which a companionrelationship is refused or a competitor relationship in which a userrecognizes another user as a competitor and the approval of the otheruser is not necessary. If the application is a communication applicationsuch as chatting, a chatting mate corresponds to a specificrelationship.

The management server 3 also includes an accepting unit 14 foraccepting, from the terminal apparatus 2 of a user who uses game A(example of first application), a companion list request (exampleacquisition request) for requesting a companion list (examplerelationship information) indicating a companion relationship associatedwith FNWIDb (example of second identification information), and areporting unit 15 for reporting the companion list associated withFNWIDb to the terminal apparatus 2 that has sent the companion listrequest or to the application server 4A (example of first applicationapparatus). Here, when the reporting unit 15 reports the companion listto the application server 4A, the application server 4A reports thecompanion list to the terminal apparatus 2 of the user. In other words,the reporting unit 15 reports the companion list associated with FNWIDbto the terminal apparatus 2 directly or indirectly.

Therefore, the terminal apparatus 2 of a user who uses game A and game Bcan acquire, in game A, the companion list in game B. In other words,the companion list in one game can be acquired in another game. Forexample, even between games whose accounts are incompatible, it ispossible to report information to a user who has a companionrelationship in one game on the basis of an operation in another game.Target information to be reported includes, for example, messageinformation or invitation information described later. When themanagement server 3 executes the inviting processing, the terminalapparatus 2 of the inviting user who uses game A can acquire a companionlist in game B which receives the invitation. A user listed in theacquired companion list serves as a candidate for a user to be invitedto game A.

The management server 3 further includes the invitation informationmanagement unit 16 (example of accumulator) that accepts an invitationrequest in which a request for an invitation to game A for a user to beinvited, selected by the inviting user from among the companion listreported by the reporting unit 15, and that accumulates and manages theaccepted invitation request. Therefore, it is possible to collectivelymanage who invites whom to which game (example application) in themanagement server 3.

Next, FIG. 2B shows an outline of a process for inquiring about aninvitation request. In the terminal apparatus 2 of a user to be invited,an inquiry unit 201 sends an inquiry about whether an invitation to agame exists to the invitation information management unit 16 of themanagement server 3, the inquiry being made from a game being used inthe terminal apparatus 2 from among the plurality of applicationsprovided in the application system 100, game A, game B, game C, . . . .

For example, when the application system 100 provides game A, game B,game C, and game D, and when game B is available in the terminalapparatus 2 of the user to be invited, the terminal apparatus 2 sends,from game B, an inquiry about whether an invitation exists. Morespecifically, inquiring about an invitation request is performed bysending an invitation inquiry request to the management server 3. Theinquiry unit 201 sends an inquiry about whether an invitation in whichthe user of the terminal apparatus 2 is a user to be invited exists tothe invitation information management unit 16. It is preferable that theinquiry be sent when game B is activated in the terminal apparatus 2. Itis not required, however, that the inquiry be made at activation, butthe inquiry may be made while game B is being used. For example, whensome information is sent to the management server 3, the inquiry requestmay be included in the information to be sent. Alternatively, theinquiry request may be sent when some event (an operation instructionfrom the user, for example) occurs while game B is being used.

When an inquiry about an invitation request is sent from the user of theterminal apparatus 2, if an invitation request in which the user of theterminal apparatus 2 is a user to be invited is accumulated in theinvitation information management unit 16 (example of accumulator), thereporting unit 15 of the management server 3 reports to the terminalapparatus 2 invitation information indicating that the inviting userinvites the user to be invited to game A. Therefore, even between gameswhose account are incompatible, a user who has a companion relationshipin one game can be invited to another game.

On the other hand, the terminal apparatus 2 includes the inquiry unit201 for sending an inquiry about whether invitation informationindicating an invitation to game A (example of first application) existsto the invitation information management unit 16, which managesinvitation information, from game B (example of second application)being used in the terminal apparatus 2 of the user to be invited, aninvitation information receiving unit 202 for receiving the invitationinformation corresponding to the inquiry, a display unit 203, and adisplay control unit 204 for displaying, on the display unit 203, thedetails of the invitation on the basis of the invitation information.Therefore, even if an invitation related process, such as reporting aninvitation to the terminal apparatus 2, is not executed in theapplication servers 4A, 4B, 4C, . . . , the terminal apparatus 2 canrecognize an invitation from a user who is a companion in one game toanother game being played by the user.

Here, the invitation information management unit 16 may be providedanywhere inside the application system 100, and may be provided, forexample, in the management server 3 or in each of the applicationservers 4A, 4B, 4C, . . . .

A game (an example application) can have, for example, a not-runningstate, an active state in which some process is being executed, abackground state in which nothing is displayed on the screen but someprocess is being executed, or a suspended state in which no processesare executed and the game is suspended. Activation of a game means thatthe game transits from the not-running state, or the suspended state tothe active state. The end of a game means that the game transits fromthe active state to the not-running state, or the suspended state. Whena plurality of games (applications) can be simultaneously in the activestates, activation of a game means that one of the games transits to astate in which the user can operate the game, such as a state in whichthe game is displayed in the foremost on the screen. A LocalID isgenerated in the game (application) at any timing, such as when the gameis first activated or when a tutorial finishes.

Installing a game (application) includes not only new introduction ofthe game program not yet introduced into the terminal apparatus 2 butalso an update of the game program to be compatible with the applicationsystem 100. In other words, installing a game includes downloading anupdate program to be compatible with the application system 100 for thegame installed in the terminal apparatus 2 to update the programtherefor.

1.2 Structure of Management Server 3

FIG. 3 shows the structure of the management server 3. As shown in thefigure, the management server 3 includes a central processing unit (CPU)30 for controlling the entire server, a random access memory (RAM) 31that functions as a work area for the CPU 30, a read only memory (ROM)32 having stored therein a boot program and others, a hard disk 33 forstoring various types of programs and data, an input unit 34 thatincludes a keyboard and a mouse, a display unit 35 for displaying animage, a communication interface 36 for communicating with an externaldevice through the communication network NET, and a reading device 37for reading data from an information recording medium such as a compactdisc.

The hard disk 33 includes, for example, a user information table TBL11,an ID management table TBL12, a companion relationship table TBL13, andan invitation table TBL14. When the CPU 30 executes various types ofprograms, the CPU 30 functions as the issuing unit 11, the receivingunit 12, the management unit 13, the accepting unit 14, the reportingunit 15, and the invitation information management unit 16. In otherwords, the various types of programs control the management server 3,which includes the CPU 30 (computer).

FIG. 4 shows the data structure of the user information table TBL11. Theuser information table TBL11 stores a plurality of records. Each recordincludes a record identification information ID that uniquely identifiesthe record, type information AppID (hereafter just called AppID)indicating the type of an application, a user nickname, the FNWID, atoken, and a token issue date indicating the date on which the token wasissued. For example, in a record having ID=1, FNWID is “XCV56714”, and atoken “56844SAS” was issued on Mar. 28, 2012 in association with theFNWID. The token issue date can be used for a case in which a validperiod is specified for the issued token. As shown in FIG. 1, theapplication servers 4A, 4B, 4C, . . . include user information tablesTBL11A, TBL11B, TBL11C, . . . , respectively, each having theabove-described data structure.

FIG. 5 shows the data structure of the ID management table TBL12. The IDmanagement table TBL12 stores a plurality of records. Each recordincludes a record identification information ID uniquely identifying therecord, a RefID, and an FNWID. The FNWID is issued when an account isregistered in each of the application servers 4A, 4B, 4C, . . . . Incontrast, the RefID is issued when it is determined in the associatingprocessing that an account in one game and an account in another gamebelong to the same user. In this example, the records having ID=1 andID=2 have different friend network identification information FNWIDs“XCV56714” and “REK35460” and the same RefID 00000011. Therefore,“XCV56714” and “REK35460” are friend network identification informationFNWIDs belonging to the same user.

FIG. 6 shows the data structure of the companion relationship tableTBL13. The companion relationship table TBL13 stores a plurality ofrecords. Each record stores, in association with one another, a recordidentification information ID, an AppID, group information Groupindicating the type of relationship, companion-offer-source localidentification information LocalID_From (hereafter called justLocalID_From) indicating the LocalID of the companion-offer-source user,companion-offer-destination local identification information LocalID_To(hereafter called just LocalID_To) indicating the LocalID of thecompanion-offer-destination user, companion-offer-source friend networkidentification information FNWID_From (hereafter called just FNWID_From)indicating the FNWID of the companion-offer-source user,companion-offer-destination friend network identification informationFNWID_To (hereafter called just FNWID_To) indicating the FNWID of thecompanion-offer-destination, and state information Stat indicating thestate of the companion offer.

It is advantageous in reducing the storage capacity that a companionrelationship be recorded so as to include the companion-offer source andthe companion-offer destination separately. If the LocalID of a user andthe LocalIDs of all users with whom the user has companion relationshipsare stored in association with each other, twice the storage capacity isrequired. For example, it is assumed that user A is a companion-offersource and user B is a companion-offer destination. When the LocalIDs ofusers who have companion relationships with other users are stored foreach user, it is necessary to store a companion relationship with user Bfor user A and also to store a companion relationship with user A foruser B. In contrast, in the present embodiment, since the LocalID of thecompanion-offer destination and the LocalID of the companion-offersource are associated and stored in one record, the required storagecapacity is halved. Even when the state information Stat is updated, therequired processing is halved.

The relationship between a user and another user can be a companionrelationship, a competitor relationship, or a blocked relationship. Acompanion relationship is established when a companion offer from a useris sent to another user and the other user approves the offer. Acompetitor relationship is established when a user makes a companionoffer for another user whom the user considers to be a competitor, butthe approval of the other user is not necessary. This is used, forexample, when a user and another user play the same game and the userwants to register the other user as a competitor. A blocked relationshipis established when a user asks for blocking another user whom the userwants to block, and the approval of the other user is not necessary, inthe same way as the competitor relationship. This is used when companionoffers are repeatedly received from the other user despite priorrefusal, or when the other user troubles the user for some reason, suchas an opinion on a bulletin board.

The group information Group specifies “Friends” for a record having acompanion relationship, “Rival” for a record having a competitorrelationship, and “Block” for a record having a blocked relationship.The state information Stat specifies “0” while a companion offer ispending, “1” after approval, and “2” after refusal. Since the competitorrelationship and the blocked relationship are established just by acompanion offer and a blocking request, respectively, it is notnecessary to record the state information Stat. Therefore, the stateinformation is set to “Null”. The state information Stat may be alwaysset to “0” for the competitor relationship and the blocked relationship.

For example, the record having ID=1 indicates that, in the game havingan AppID 00000001, the user having a LocalID 00000011 has made acompanion offer for the user having a LocalID 00003120 and the offer hasbeen approved. The record having ID=1 is generated at a timing at whichthe user having a LocalID 00000011 makes a companion offer, and thestate information Stat is set to “0”, which indicates the companionoffer is pending. The state information Stat is updated to “1”(approval) or “2” (refusal) when the user having a LocalID 00003120receives the companion offer and approves or refuses it.

When a specific game is concerned by referring to the correspondingAppID in the companion relationship table TBL13, the companionrelationships between the users in that game can be recognized. A userwith whom a companion relationship has already been made or a companionto whom a companion offer has been made can be recognized by referringto the state information Stat. FNWID_To extracted from a record in whichthe FNWID of a specific user matches FNWID_From indicates the companionto whom the specific user has made a companion offer, and FNWID_Fromextracted from a record in which the FNWID of a specific user matchesFNWID_To indicates the companion from whom the specific user hasreceived a companion offer.

If a companion relationship is dissolved after the companionrelationship was established, that record is deleted. Instead ofdeleting the record, the table may be configured such that a new itemindicating whether a record is valid or invalid is added so that arecord in which the companion relationship is dissolved is made invalid.If a companion relationship is established again with a user with whom acompanion relationship was once dissolved, a new record needs to begenerated.

As shown in FIG. 1, the application servers 4A, 4B, 4C, . . . eachinclude companion relationship tables TBL13A, TBL13B, TBL13C, . . . ,respectively Each companion relationship table TBL13A, TBL13B, TBL13C, .. . stores companion relationships for each game, and each recordincludes the record identification information ID, the group informationGroup, LocalID_From, LocalID_To, FNWID_From, FNWID_To, and the stateinformation Stat indicating the state of the companion offer. When acompanion relationship is changed in any of the application servers 4A,4B, 4C, . . . and the stored content in the corresponding companionrelationship table TBL13A, TBL13B, TBL13C, . . . is changed, a changenotice is sent from the application server 4A, 4B, 4C, . . . to themanagement server 3, and the change in the companion relationship isreflected in the companion relationship table TBL13, thus synchronizingthe stored contents.

FIG. 7 shows the data structure of the invitation table TBL14. Theinvitation table TBL14 stores a plurality of records. Each recordincludes a record identification information ID, inviting-game typeinformation InviteAppID (hereafter just called InviteAppID), friendnetwork identification information InviteFNWID_From of the inviting user(hereafter just called InviteFNWID_From), friend network identificationinformation InviteFNWID_To of the user to be invited (hereafter justcalled InviteFNWID_To), and the nickname of the inviting user,corresponding to the invited game. By referring to the invitation tableTBL14, it can be recognized that there is a game to which a user isinvited.

1.3 Structure of Terminal Apparatus 2

FIG. 8 shows the structure of the terminal apparatus 2. The terminalapparatus 2 constitutes the application system 100 together with themanagement server 3 (example management apparatus), which issues andmanages identification information (FNWID) uniquely identifying a userwith regard to each of the plurality of application servers 4 (exampleapplication apparatuses) providing users with applications, such asgames, different from each other, and manages plural pieces ofidentification information corresponding to the plurality of applicationservers 4 for the same user, by associating the plural pieces ofidentification information. An apparatus constituting the applicationsystem 100, such as the management server 3, includes the invitationinformation management unit 16 for managing invitation informationinviting, a user to game A (example of first application) being used bythe inviting user, with the user being invited having a specificrelationship with the inviting user in game B (example of secondapplication).

The terminal apparatus 2 includes a CPU 20 for controlling the entireapparatus, a RAM 21 that functions as a work area for the CPU 20, a ROM22 having stored therein a boot program and other data, a storage device23 for storing various types of programs and data, an input unit 24 thatincludes a ten-key pad and touch sensitive keys, a display device 25 fordisplaying an image, and a communication interface 26 for communicatingwith an external device through the communication network NET. Thestorage device 23 stores various types of applications, such as games,FNWIDs corresponding to each application available in the terminalapparatus 2, and a control program for controlling the entire apparatus.

The storage device 23 corresponds to the storage unit 205 shown in FIG.1, and the display device 25 corresponds to the display unit 203. TheCPU 20 executes the control program, whereby the CPU 20 functions as theinquiry unit 201, the invitation information receiving unit 202, thedisplay control unit 204, a selection unit 206, the acquiring unit 207,the identifier reporting unit 208, and an invitation request sendingunit 209. In other words, the control program controls the terminalapparatus, which has the CPU 20 (computer) and the display device 25.

When an application installed in the terminal apparatus 2 is compatiblewith the application system 100, the program of a software developmentkit (SDK) may be incorporated in the program of that application. TheSDK is formed of a collection of application programming interfaces(APIs) that mediate between the application installed in the terminalapparatus 2 and the management server 3. When an application in whichthe SDK has been incorporated is executed in the terminal apparatus 2,the terminal apparatus 2 can be made to function as the inquiry unit201, which sends an inquiry about whether invitation informationindicating an invitation to game A (example of first application) existsto the invitation information management unit 16 of the managementserver 3, with the invitation being made from game B (example of secondapplication) being used in the terminal apparatus 2 of the user to beinvited, the invitation information receiving unit 202, which receivesthe invitation information corresponding to the inquiry, and as thedisplay control unit 204, which displays, on the display unit 203, thedetails of the invitation on the basis of the invitation information. Inother words, the SDK can be understood as a program incorporated intothe control program of game A or game B installed in the terminalapparatus, which has the CPU 20 (computer) and the display device 25(example display unit).

Furthermore, the terminal apparatus 2 can be understood as including theinquiry unit 201, the invitation information receiving unit 202, and thedisplay control unit 204. The invitation information management unit 16is provided for the management server 3, and the inquiry unit 201 sendsan inquiry about whether invitation information exists to the invitationinformation management unit 16 of the management server 3.

Accordingly, a user who wants to make an invitation to a game that theuser is currently playing (for example, game A) is allowed to invite acompanion in another game (for example, game B), the games havingincompatible accounts, and the user who is invited is able to know theinvitation to the inviting game. In other words, an invitation from auser who is a companion in a game (for example, game B) to another gamebeing played by the user (for example game A) can be recognized.

The terminal apparatus 2 may be configured such that, when anapplication in which an SDK has been incorporated is executed in theterminal apparatus 2, the terminal apparatus 2 can function as theselection unit 206 for selecting game B in game A being used in theterminal apparatus 2 of the inviting user, the acquiring unit 207, whichacquires the token (example identifier) that corresponds toidentification information identifying the inviting user, correspondingto game A, and that was issued by the management server 3 (examplemanagement apparatus), and as the identifier reporting unit 208, whichreports to the management server 3, through the predetermined path, apair of the token acquired by the acquiring unit 207 and theidentification information identifying the inviting user, correspondingto game B selected by the selection unit 206. The terminal apparatus 2can be understood as additionally including the selection unit 206, theacquiring unit 207, and the identification reporting unit 208.Accordingly, it is possible for the management server 3 to associateaccounts used in different games operating in the same terminalapparatus 2.

If an application installed in the terminal apparatus 2 is a versionthat is not compatible with the application system 100, when a versionthat includes an SDK can be downloaded, the version of the program ofthe application installed in the terminal apparatus 2 is updated,allowing the application to be compatible with the application system100. In other words, the application programs at the application servers4A, 4B, 4C, . . . are configured so as to be able to incorporate an SDK.

An SDK is provided, for example, by the business entity that manages themanagement server 3. In that case, the service providing entities of theapplication servers 4A, 4B, 4C, . . . provide the application programsto the users of the terminal apparatuses 2 after incorporating the SDKprogram provided by the business entity that manages the managementserver 3 into the application programs of game A, game B, game C, . . ..

2. Operation of Application System

The operation of the application system 100 will be described in termsof (1) FNWID acquiring processing, (2) companion-relationshipsynchronizing processing, and (3) inviting processing.

2.1 FNWID Acquiring Processing

FIG. 9 shows details of the FNWID acquiring processing. In this example,it is assumed that a user acquires the program of game A from theapplication server 4A, and FNWIDa is acquired in that process.

When the user operates the terminal apparatus 2 to access a downloadingsite for game A and selects downloading of game A, the terminalapparatus 2 sends a downloading request to the application server 4A.When the application server 4A receives the downloading request, theapplication server 4A sends a downloading response that includes theprogram of game A to the terminal apparatus 2. The downloading site maybe a server operated by a third party.

Then, when the user activates game A, game A in the terminal apparatus 2determines whether this is the initial activation according to whetherregistration information has already been stored by referring to thestorage area managed by game A. When it is determined that this is theinitial activation based on the fact that registration information hasnot been stored, game A makes the terminal apparatus 2 display a screenfor asking the user to input a nickname. When the user operates theterminal apparatus 2 to input a nickname, the terminal apparatus 2 sendsa registration request that includes the nickname to the applicationserver 4A. When the application server 4A receives the registrationrequest, the application server 4A generates local identificationinformation LocalIDa, stores the nickname and the local identificationinformation LocalIDa in the user information table TBL11A, and executesaccount registration.

Then, the application server 4A reports the generated localidentification information LocalIDa or identification informationassociated with the local identification information LocalIDa, to theterminal apparatus 2. The terminal apparatus 2 receives the localidentification information LocalIDa or the identification informationassociated with the local identification information LocalIDa, reportedby the application server 4A, associates the information with thenickname, and stores them as registration information in the storagearea managed by game A. When the terminal apparatus 2 communicates withthe application server 4A thereafter, if the local identificationinformation LocalIDa or the identification information associated withthe local identification information LocalIDa, stored as theregistration information in the terminal apparatus 2 is included, theapplication server 4A can identify the user. When the identificationinformation associated with the local identification informationLocalIDa is used as identification information reported to the terminalapparatus 2, instead of the local identification information LocalIDa,the identification information is associated with the localidentification information LocalIDa and is stored in the userinformation table TBL11A.

Then, the application server 4A sends an FNWID issue request to themanagement server 3. When the management server 3 receives the FNWIDissue request, the management server 3 issues FNWIDa that uniquelyidentifies the user and sends back an FNWID issue response that includesthe issued FNWIDa to the application server 4A. When the applicationserver 4A receives the FNWID issue response, the application server 4Astores FNWIDa in association with the local identification informationLocalIDa in the user information table TBL11A.

Next, the application server 4A sends a nickname notice that includesthe nickname and FNWIDa to the management server 3. When the managementserver 3 receives the nickname notice, the management server 3 storesthe nickname in association with FNWIDa. The application server 4A alsosends FNWIDa to the terminal apparatus 2. When the terminal apparatus 2receives FNWIDa, the terminal apparatus 2 adds FNWIDa to theregistration information stored in the storage area managed by game Aand stores FNWIDa therein.

In the above-described example, the application server 4A generates thelocal identification information LocalIDa, which serves as the accountof the user. The user may be asked to input unique alphanumericcharacters as the account. An email address may be used as the account.

In this manner, when the user downloads the program of game A into theterminal apparatus 2 and activates game A, FNWIDa is issued by themanagement server 3 and the issued FNWIDa is stored in the managementserver 3, the application server 4A, and the terminal apparatus 2, theactivation of game A being used as a trigger. In this case, the user ofthe terminal apparatus 2 just needs to set up an account in theapplication server 4A, but does not need to additionally set up anadministrative account in the management server 3, which the usermanages.

2.2 Companion-Relationship Synchronizing Processing

Next, FIG. 10 shows details of the companion-relationship synchronizingprocessing. When the companion relationship is changed and the storagecontents of the companion relationship table TBL13A are changed in theapplication server 4A, the application server 4A sends a change noticeto the management server 3. The change notice includes the change in thecompanion relationship table TBL13A. For example, the application server4A may include a changed record in the change notice and may send thenotice. When the management server 3 receives the change notice, themanagement server 3 reflects the companion relationship change in thecompanion relationship table TBL13 to update the storage contents.

In this manner, the companion relationships managed by the applicationservers 4A, 4B, 4C, . . . are collectively recognized by the managementserver 3.

2.3 Inviting Processing

FIG. 11 shows details of the inviting processing. In this example, it isassumed that an inviting user who plays both game A and game B invitesanother user, as an invited user, who is a companion of the invitinguser in game B, to game A. It is also assumed that FNWID of the invitinguser, corresponding to game A, is FNWIDa, FNWID of the inviting user,corresponding to game B, is FNWIDb, a reference symbol 2 a is assignedto the terminal apparatus of the inviting user, and a reference symbol 2b is assigned to the terminal apparatus of the invited user.

When the inviting user operates the terminal apparatus 2 a to activategame A and selects an invitation page for inviting a companion inanother game to game A, the terminal apparatus 2 a sends a token requestto the application server 4A. The application server 4A, upon receivingthe token request, acquires FNWIDa for the inviting user of terminalapparatus 2 a. For example, when the token request includes FNWIDa, theapplication server 4A needs to acquire FNWIDa included in the tokenrequest. Alternatively, when the token request includes the localidentification information LocalIDa or the nickname, the applicationserver 4A needs to refer to the user information table TBL11A to acquireFNWIDa corresponding to the local identification information LocalIDa orthe nickname.

Then, the application server 4A sends a token issue request thatincludes the acquired FNWIDa to the management server 3. When themanagement server 3 receives the token issue request, the managementserver 3 issues a token, associates the issued token with FNWIDaincluded in the token issue request, and stores the token in the userinformation table TBL11. For example, when it is assumed that FNWIDa is“XCV56714” and the token is “56844SAS”, “56844SAS” is associated with“XCV56714” and is stored in the user information table TBL11, as shownin FIG. 4.

Then, the management server 3 sends a token issue response that includesthe issued token to the application server 4A. When the applicationserver 4A receives the token issue response, the application server 4Asends a token response that includes the token to the terminal apparatus2 a. The application server 4A acquires in advance applicationinformation that indicates details of game B, game C, . . . provided bythe other application servers 4B, 4C, . . . belonging to the applicationsystem 100, from the management server 3. The application server 4Asends the acquired application information to the terminal apparatus 2a.

When the terminal apparatus 2 a receives the application information,the terminal apparatus 2 a displays, on the display device 25, aninvitation page on which the user can select one or a plurality of gameson the basis of the application information. When the inviting userselects an invited game in which an invitation is made (in thisembodiment, game B), the invited game is activated.

If the invited game selected in the terminal apparatus 2 a has not beeninstalled or has been uninstalled, so that the invited game cannot beactivated, a message indicating that this process cannot be performed isdisplayed on the display device 25. When game B, which is the invitedgame, is activated and the token is passed from game A to game B, theterminal apparatus 2 a reports FNWIDb, which is FNWID corresponding togame B, and the passed token to the application server 4B. The invitingprocessing may be configured such that a game or games installed in theterminal apparatus 2 a are identified, and an invitation page on whichonly these games can be selected is displayed on the display device 25.

When the application server 4B receives FNWIDb and the token, theapplication server 4B reports them to the management server 3. When themanagement server 3 receives FNWIDb and the token, the management server3 determines whether the received token matches an issued token. Forexample, the management server 3 searches the user information tableTBL11 and determines whether an issued token that matches the receivedtoken is found. This determination may be made such that a token havingan expired valid date is made invalid by referring to the issue date ofeach token.

In this example, it is assumed that the received token matches an issuedtoken. In that case, the management server 3 associates FNWIDa withFNWIDb. For example, the management server 3 stores an identical RefIDfor both FNWIDa and FNWIDb in the ID management table TBL12. Forexample, when it is assumed that FNWIDa is “XCV56714” and FNWIDb is“REK35460”, an identical RefID of “00000011” is stored in the IDmanagement table TBL12, as shown in FIG. 5.

Then, game A of the terminal apparatus 2 a sends a companion listrequest to the management server 3. The companion list request includestype information AppID indicating that the inviting game is game A andFNWIDa of the inviting user. When the management server 3 receives thecompanion list request, the management server 3 extracts at least oneuser having a companion relationship with the inviting user in game B asa candidate user to be invited.

More specifically, the CPU 30 of the management server 3 refers to theID management table TBL12 to acquire RefID corresponding to FNWIDa ofthe inviting user, and then extracts FNWIDb of the inviting user, havingthe same RefID and corresponding to game B. For example, in the exampleshown in FIG. 5, when FNWIDa is “XCV56714”, since RefID associated with“XCV56714” is “00000011”, the CPU 30 acquires “00000011” as RefIDassociated with FNWIDa. Then, the CPU 30 extracts another FNWID having aRefID of “00000011”. In this example, “REK35460” (the above-describedFNWIDb) is extracted. The extracted FNWIDb is an FNWID corresponding toanother game played by the inviting user. The extracted FNWIDb can beidentified as the FNWID corresponding to game B when the correspondingAppID is referenced in the user information table TBL11. In other words,by executing the above-described associating processing, the FNWID (inthis example, FNWIDb=REK35460) corresponding to a game (game B)different from game A, to which the inviting user invites someone, canbe identified.

Next, the CPU 30 refers to the companion relationship table TBL13 toidentify at least one companion in a game (in this example, game B)different from game A, to which the inviting user invites someone. Morespecifically, FNWID acquired by extracting FNWID_To from a record whichhas the AppID indicating game B from which a companion is to be invitedand for which FNWIDb of the inviting user matches FNWID_From, and FNWIDacquired by extracting FNWID_From from a record which has the AppIDindicating game B and for which FNWIDb matches FNWID_To indicatealtogether companions in the invited game (game B). Therefore, theextracted FNWID is FNWIDb of a companion, corresponding to game B.

In this case, the state information Stat in the record having anextracted FNWID is referenced and if the state indicates “0”, whichmeans that a companion offer is pending, or “2”, which means refusal,the FNWID is excluded from the extraction result. However, because “0”,which means that a companion offer is pending, shows a possibility ofbeing a companion, the corresponding FNWID may be included in theextraction result.

Then, the CPU 30 identifies, from among at least one FNWIDb (hereaftercalled a first FNWID), one not associated with FNWID corresponding togame A (hereafter called a second FNWID) as FNWID of a candidate user tobe invited. This is because, when it is clear that a companion in theinvited game has already used the inviting game (game A), that companionneeds to be excluded from candidates for users to be invited.

More specifically, the CPU 30 first refers to the ID management tableTBL12 to identify RefID corresponding to each of the extracted firstFNWIDs (a first process). In this first process, there is a case inwhich the ID management table TBL12 includes no record having the firstFNWID. In that case, since the CPU 30 cannot identify a correspondingRefID, the processing does not proceed to a second or third process,described later, and the first FNWID is treated as FNWID of a candidateuser to be invited.

Second, the CPU 30 identifies a second FNWID according to the identifiedRefID (a second process). In other words, the CPU 30 identifies a secondFNWID having the same RefID. Third, the CPU 30 refers to the userinformation table TBL11 to determine whether the second FNWID is anFNWID corresponding to game A (a third process). In other words, it isdetermined whether the corresponding AppID indicates game A in therecord having the second FNWID. When it is determined that the secondFNWID is not an FNWID corresponding to game A, that is, that the secondFNWID is an FNWID corresponding to a game other than game A, the firstFNWID corresponding to this second FNWID is treated as FNWID of acandidate user to be invited. On the other hand, if it is determinedthat the second FNWID is an FNWID corresponding to game A, thatcompanion is not treated as a candidate user to be invited.

Next, the CPU 30 refers to the user information table TBL11 to generatea companion list that includes at least one set formed of FNWID of thecandidate for a user to be invited, the nickname corresponding to FNWIDof the candidate for a user to be invited, with the nickname being usedin the game in which an invitation is made (game B), and the AppID(AppIDb indicating game B). The management server 3 sends a companionlist response that includes the companion list to the terminal apparatus2 a.

When the terminal apparatus 2 a receives the companion list response,the terminal apparatus 2 a displays the nickname of the at least onecompanion (candidate user to be invited) for each game name on thedisplay device 25. In the present embodiment, since game B is theinvited game, the FNWID associated with the token Tx and FNWIDacorresponding to game A for the inviting user is only FNWIDbcorresponding to game B. Therefore, the nickname of the at least onecompanion displayed on the display device 25 is only that for game B.When a plurality of other games are treated as invited games, acompanion list that includes a companion in each of the plurality ofgames is generated, and the nickname of the companion is displayed foreach game name. In that case, FNWIDa corresponding to game A isassociated with FNWIDs corresponding to the plurality of other games inthe associating processing.

When the inviting user operates the terminal apparatus 2 a to select acompanion to be invited, the terminal apparatus 2 a (the invitationrequest sending unit 209) sends an invitation request that includesinvitation information to the management server 3. This invitationinformation includes FNWIDa of the inviting user, corresponding to theinviting game A, FNWIDb of a user to be invited, corresponding to theinvited game B, where a companion to be invited plays, and AppID of theinviting game A. It is also possible to select a plurality ofcompanions.

Next, when the management server 3 receives the invitation request, themanagement server 3 stores a record including the invitation informationin the invitation table TBL14. As described above, each record in theinvitation table TBL14 includes InviteAppID, InviteFNWID_From,InviteFNWID_To, and the nickname of the inviting user, corresponding tothe invited game. In this example, it is assumed that FNWID of a user tobe invited is FNWIDb, and that the user to be invited has a companionrelationship with the inviting user in game B. Therefore, in each recordin the invitation table TBL14, InviteAppID is AppIDa of game A,InviteFNWID_From is FNWIDa of the inviting user, and InviteFNWID_To isFNWIDb of the user to be invited. The CPU 30 acquires the nickname ofthe inviting user in game B, where the inviting user has a companionrelationship with the user to be invited. More specifically, the CPU 30first identifies FNWIDa of the inviting user, the FNWIDa being includedin the invitation request. Second, the CPU 30 refers to the IDmanagement table TBL12 to acquire RefID corresponding to FNWIDa of theinviting user. Third, the CPU 30 refers to the ID management table TBL12to extract FNWID (FNWIDb) of the inviting user, stored in associationwith the acquired RefID. Fourth, the CPU 30 refers to the userinformation table TBL11 to identify a record associated with theextracted FNWID (FNWIDb) of the inviting user and to acquire thenickname of the inviting user, included in the record.

Then, the CPU 30 stores AppIDa of the inviting game A, FNWIDa of theinviting user, corresponding to game A, FNWIDb of the user to beinvited, corresponding to game B, and the nickname of the inviting userin the invited game B, in the invitation table TBL14. The invitationtable TBL14 functions as the invitation information management unit 16(see FIG. 1), which accumulates invitation information.

Then, when the user to be invited operates the terminal apparatus 2 b toactivate game B, the inquiry unit 201 of the terminal apparatus 2 bsends an inquiry request to the management server 3 during the use ofgame B. The invitation inquiry request includes FNWIDb of the user to beinvited, corresponding to game B. Even when any of game A, game B, gameC, . . . belonging to the application system 100 is activated, aninvitation inquiry request is sent to the management server 3 during theexecution of the activated game.

Next, when the management server 3 receives the invitation inquiryrequest, the management server 3 searches for the invitationinformation. More specifically, the CPU 30 refers to the invitationtable TBL14 to identify a record in which FNWIDb is recorded asInviteFNWID_To and to identify the nickname of the inviting user,corresponding to game B, and AppIDa indicating the inviting game A inthat record. AppIDa may include link information indicating the addressof a site where the inviting game A can be downloaded. In this manner,the CPU 30 functions as the invitation information management unit 16.Then, the CPU 30 sends an invitation inquiry response that includes thenickname and AppIDa, which is the identified invitation information, tothe terminal apparatus 2 b through the communication interface 36. Inthis case, the CPU 30 functions as the reporting unit 15.

Then, when the terminal apparatus 2 b receives the invitation inquiryresponse, the terminal apparatus 2 b displays, on the display device 25,the nickname of the inviting user, the name of a game to which the userto be invited is invited, and the link information. More specifically,the invitation information receiving unit 202 (the CPU 20) of theterminal apparatus 2 b receives the invitation inquiry response thatincludes the invitation information, and the display control unit 204(the CPU 20) displays invitation details on the display device 25.

By doing so, the user to be invited can understand that the invitinguser with whom a companion relationship has been made in game B has madean invitation to game A.

As described above, the terminal apparatus 2 may be configured so as tofunction as the invitation request sending unit 209, which sends to themanagement server 3 an invitation request for a user who receives aninvitation (user to be invited) among a user having a specificrelationship (a candidate user to be invited) with a user (invitinguser) in game B selected by the selection unit 206. This invitationrequest serves as a basis for invitation information managed by themanagement server 3. Also, the terminal apparatus 2 can be understood asadditionally including the invitation request sending unit 209.

Since game B is activated on the basis of operations in game A and theactivated game B sends an invitation request to the management server 3in this manner, it is possible for a user who is playing game A toinvite another user who is a companion of the user in game B to game A.In other words, even between games for which accounts are incompatible,it is possible to invite a user having a companion relationship in agame on the basis of operations in another game. Here, game B activatedon the basis of operations in game A differs in operation from game Bactivated when a user plays game B. In other words, game B activated onthe basis of operations in game A performs the inviting processing.

3. Modifications

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment.Various types of modifications described below are possible. It is alsoa matter of course that each modification and the embodiment may becombined appropriately.

(1) In the above embodiment, the application servers 4A, 4B, 4C, . . .are incorporated into the application system 100 from the beginning. Thepresent invention is not limited to that case. An application server maybe incorporated into the application system 100 that has already beenoperating.

For example, it is assumed that the application server 4A has beenoperating independently, and the application server 4A is applied anewto the application system 100. In that case, the program of game A needsto be updated in the terminal apparatus 2. This is because game A doesnot have a function for passing a token to the program of another gameor an inviting processing function since game A just needs to operate onthe application server 4A when the application server 4A has beenoperating independently.

FIG. 12 shows FNWID acquiring processing according to a modification. Inthis modification, it is assumed that the application server 4A has beenincorporated anew into the application system 100.

First, a user operates the terminal apparatus 2 a to access adownloading site for game A. Then, a screen for prompting the user toinstall the update program is displayed on the display device 25. Whenthe user operates the terminal apparatus 2 a to select updating, theterminal apparatus 2 sends an update request to the application server4A. When the application server 4A receives the update request, theapplication server 4A sends back an update response that includes theupdate program to the terminal apparatus 2 a.

Next, when the terminal apparatus 2 a receives the update response, theupdate program of game A is installed into the terminal apparatus 2 a.In the installation of the update program, the nickname and LocalID usedin the preceding game A are handed over as a part of registrationinformation.

When game A is activated, it is determined whether this is the initialactivation according to whether FNWID has already been stored in thestorage area managed by game A of the terminal apparatus 2 a during theuse of game A. When it is determined that this is the initial activationbased on the fact that FNWID has not been stored, the terminal apparatus2 a sends an initial activation notice indicating that the initialactivation was performed to the application server 4A.

When the application server 4A receives the initial activation notice,the application server 4A sends an FNWID issue request to the managementserver 3. When the management server 3 receives the FNWID issue request,the management server 3 issues FNWIDa and sends back an FNWID issueresponse that includes the issued FNWIDa to the application server 4A.When the application server 4A receives the FNWID issue response, theapplication server 4A stores FNWIDa in the user information table TBL11Ain association with the nickname and the local identificationinformation LocalIDa. The application server 4A also reports FNWIDa tothe terminal apparatus 2 a. The terminal apparatus 2 a stores FNWIDa inassociation with game A.

Next, the application server 4A sends a nickname notice that includesthe nickname and FNWIDa to the management server 3. When the managementserver 3 receives the nickname notice, the management server 3 storesthe nickname and FNWIDa into the user information table TBL11.

In this manner, when the user downloads the update program of game Ainto the terminal apparatus 2 a and activates the update program, FNWIDais issued by the management server 3 and the issued FNWIDa is stored inthe management server 3, the application server 4A, and the terminalapparatus 2 a. In this case, the user of the terminal apparatus 2 a doesnot need to newly set up an administrative account managed by the userin the management server 3.

In this modification, FNWID is issued to a user who activates game A forthe first time. Therefore, it is advantageous that the management server3 does not need to manage FNWID of a user who has not yet used game Aeven if the user downloads the update program into the terminalapparatus 2.

When a user installs the update program and then activates the program,the FNWID issue process may be collectively executed between theapplication server 4A and the management server 3 also for a user whohas a companion relationship with the user. However, for a user having acompanion relationship but already having FNWID issued, FNWID is notissued anew. In that case, when a user having a companion relationshipinstalls the update program and then activates the program, theapplication server 4A may report FNWID to the terminal apparatus 2 ofthe user having a companion relationship.

(2) In the above-described embodiment and modification, games are takenas examples of applications. The present invention is not limited tothese examples. The present invention can be applied to anyapplications. For example, the applications may include a chattingapplication and a photo and video sharing application. A specificrelationship with another user in an application is, for example, acompanion or a competitor in a game, a chatting friend in a chattingapplication, and a companion with whom photos and videos can be sharedin a photo and video sharing application. In other words, the presentinvention can also be applied to any applications in which the whole ora part of the services and functions provided by the applications isdifferent between users having a specific relationship and users havingno specific relationship.(3) In the above-described embodiment and modifications, a companionrelationship in which a user and another user help each other whenexecuting an application is taken as an example. The present inventionis not limited to this example. The present invention can be applied toa case in which a specific relationship with another user is formed inan application. The companion relationship may be established when auser asks another user to have the companion relationship and the otheruser approves it. The specific relationship may include, in addition toa companion relationship, a blocked relationship in which having acompanion relationship is refused, or a competitor relationship in whicha user considers another user as a competitor and the approval of theother user is not necessary.(4) In the above-described embodiment and modifications, the terminalapparatus 2 that uses game A sends a companion list request forrequesting a companion list indicating a companion relationshipassociated with FNWID corresponding to game B, to the management server3; and the management server 3 includes the accepting unit 14 foraccepting the companion list request and the reporting unit 15 forsending the companion list to the terminal apparatus 2. The presentinvention is not limited to this case. The accepting unit 14 may acceptthe companion list request from the application server 4A that providesgame A, and the reporting unit 15 may send the companion list to theapplication server 4A. In that case, the application server 4Aintervenes between the terminal apparatus 2 and the management server 3.In other words, the terminal apparatus 2 sends the companion listrequest to the application server 4A, and the application server 4A,upon receiving the companion list request, sends the companion listrequest to the management server 3. The management server 3, uponreceiving the companion list request, sends the companion list to theapplication server 4A, and the application server 4A receives thecompanion list and then sends the companion list to the terminalapparatus 2.(5) In the above-described embodiment and modifications, when themanagement server 3 receives an invitation request from the terminalapparatus 2, the invitation information management unit 16 accumulatesthe invitation request. The present invention is not limited to thiscase. The management server 3 need not be provided with the invitationinformation management unit 16. In that case, when the management server3 receives, from the terminal apparatus 2, an invitation request forinviting a user to be invited who uses game B to game A, the reportingunit 15 needs to send invitation information indicating an invitation togame A, to the application server 4B corresponding to the user to beinvited. The application server 4B includes the invitation table TBL14and accumulates the invitation information (the invitation informationmanagement unit 16). After the user to be invited activates game B inthe terminal apparatus 2, the inquiry unit 201 of the terminal apparatus2 sends an inquiry about an invitation request to the application server4B corresponding to the activated game B. The application server 4Bneeds to determine whether the invitation information for the user to beinvited has been accumulated in the invitation table TBL14 and to sendthe invitation information to the terminal apparatus 2 of the user to beinvited. In other words, the invitation information management unit 16is provided for each of the plurality of application servers 4, and theinquiry unit 201 sends an inquiry about whether the invitationinformation is found to the invitation information management unit 16 ofthe application server 4 corresponding to the application that isactivated in the terminal apparatus.

In this manner, when an invitation request for a user to be invited isfound, the user to be invited being selected by the inviting user fromamong the companion list (example relationship information) reported bythe reporting unit 15 of the management server 3, the reporting unit 15sends invitation information indicating that the inviting user makes aninvitation to game A (example of the first application), to theapplication server 4B (example of the second application apparatus)corresponding to the user to be invited. In this way, variousalternative embodiments can be employed for accumulating invitationrequests.

(6) In the above-described embodiment and modifications, the tokenpassed from game A to game B is sent together with FNWIDb from theterminal apparatus 2 through the application server 4B to the receivingunit 12 of the management server 3. The present invention is not limitedto this case. The management server 3 may acquire the token through anyroute. For example, the terminal apparatus 2 may directly send the tokento the management server 3, and the receiving unit 12 may receive thetoken. In other words, the token Tx issued in association with FNWIDa inthe management server 3 may be sent from game A of the terminalapparatus 2 through game B of the terminal apparatus 2 to the managementserver 3.

In the above-described embodiment and modifications, the token is passedfrom game A to game B on the basis of an operation of the inviting userin the terminal apparatus 2. The present invention is not limited tothis case. The token may be passed from game A to game B not on thebasis of an operation of the inviting user but on the basis of anautomatic process of game A. Alternatively, the token may be passed fromgame A to game B on the basis of a program process activated by game Aand operating in the terminal apparatus 2.

The following aspects of the invention are understood from theembodiments and modifications described in the foregoing.

From the foregoing description, in one aspect, it can be understood thatthe present invention provides a terminal apparatus used in anapplication system which includes a management apparatus that issues andmanages pieces of identification information, each piece uniquelyidentifying a user, with regard to each of at least two applicationapparatuses which provide users with applications that are differentfrom one another, and that manages the pieces of identificationinformation by associating the pieces of identification informationrespectively corresponding to each of the at least two applicationapparatuses with one another for an identical user, and an invitationinformation management unit that manages invitation information invitinga user to a first application used by an inviting user, the user to beinvited having a specific relationship with the inviting user in asecond application. The terminal apparatus includes an inquiry unitconfigured to send an inquiry about whether the invitation informationindicating the invitation to the first application exists, to theinvitation information management unit from the second application usedin the terminal apparatus of the user to be invited; an invitationinformation receiving unit configured to receive the invitationinformation corresponding to the inquiry; and a display control unitconfigured to display details of the invitation according to theinvitation information on a display unit.

In a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the terminalapparatus 2 is for use in the application system 100 which includes themanagement server 3, as the management apparatus, that issues andmanages FNWIDs, each FNWID uniquely identifying a user, with regard toeach of the application servers 4A, 4B, 4C, . . . , as the applicationapparatuses, which provide users with games A, B, C, . . . , as theapplications, that are different from one another, and that managesFNWIDs by associating FNWIDs respectively corresponding to each of theapplication servers 4A, 4B, 4C, . . . , as the application apparatuses,with one another for an identical user, and the invitation informationmanagement unit 16 that manages invitation information inviting a userto game A, as the first application, used by an inviting user, the userto be invited having a specific relationship with the inviting user ingame B, as the second application. The terminal apparatus 2 includes theinquiry unit 201 configured to send an inquiry about whether theinvitation information indicating the invitation to game A exists, tothe invitation information management unit 16 from game B used in theterminal apparatus 2 of the user to be invited; the invitationinformation receiving unit 202 configured to receive the invitationinformation corresponding to the inquiry; and the display control unit24 configured to display details of the invitation according to theinvitation information on the display unit 203.

It is preferable that the above-described terminal apparatus furtherinclude a selection unit configured to select the second application inthe first application used in the terminal apparatus of the invitinguser; an acquiring unit configured to acquire an identifier that isassociated with identification information identifying the invitinguser, corresponding to the first application, and that has been issuedby the management apparatus; and an identifier reporting unit configuredto report a pair of the identifier acquired by the acquiring unit andidentification information of the inviting user, corresponding to thesecond application selected by the selection unit, to the managementapparatus through a predetermined path.

In a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the terminalapparatus 2 further includes the selection unit 206 configured to selectgame B in game A used in the terminal apparatus 2 of the inviting user;the acquiring unit 207 configured to acquire the token Tx, as theidentifier, that is associated with FNWIDa identifying the invitinguser, corresponding to the game A, and that has been issued by themanagement server 3; and the identifier reporting unit 209 configured toreport a pair of the token Tx acquired by the acquiring unit 207 andFNWIDb of the inviting user, corresponding to game B selected by theselection unit 206, to the management server 3 through a predeterminedpath.

It is preferable that the above-described terminal apparatus furtherinclude an invitation request sending unit configured to report to themanagement apparatus an invitation request that serves as a basis forthe invitation information managed by the management apparatus and thatis for the user to be invited among at least one user having thespecific relationship with the inviting user in the second applicationselected by the selection unit.

In a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the terminalapparatus 2 further includes the invitation request sending unit 209configured to report to the management server 3 an invitation requestthat serves as a basis for the invitation information managed by themanagement server 3 and that is for the user to be invited among atleast one user having the specific relationship with the inviting userin game B selected by the selection unit 206.

It is preferable that, in the above-described terminal apparatus, theinvitation information management unit be provided for the managementapparatus, and the inquiry unit send the inquiry about whether theinvitation information exists to the invitation information managementunit of the management apparatus.

In a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the invitationinformation management unit 16 is provided in the management server 3,and the inquiry unit 201 sends the inquiry about whether the invitationinformation exists to the invitation information management unit 16 ofthe management server 3.

It is preferable that, in the above-described terminal apparatus, theinvitation information management unit be provided for each of theplurality of application apparatuses; and the inquiry unit send theinquiry about whether the invitation information exists to theinvitation information management unit of an application apparatuscorresponding to an application activated in the terminal apparatus.

In a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the invitationinformation management unit 16 is provided for each of the applicationservers 4A, 4B, 4C, . . . , and the inquiry unit 201 sends the inquiryabout whether the invitation information exists to the invitationinformation management unit 16 of the application server 4Bcorresponding to game B that has been activated in the terminalapparatus 2.

In another aspect, it can be understood that the present inventionprovides a control method for a terminal apparatus having a display unitand used in an application system which includes a management apparatusthat issues and manages pieces of identification information, each pieceuniquely identifying a user, with regard to each of at least twoapplication apparatuses which provide users with applications that aredifferent from one another, and that manages the pieces ofidentification information by associating the pieces of identificationinformation respectively corresponding to each of the at least twoapplication apparatuses with one another for an identical user, and aninvitation information management unit that manages invitationinformation inviting a user to a first application used by an invitinguser, the user to be invited having a specific relationship with theinviting user in a second application. The control method includessending an inquiry about whether the invitation information indicatingthe invitation to the first application exists, to the invitationinformation management unit from the second application used in theterminal apparatus of the user to be invited; receiving the invitationinformation corresponding to the inquiry; and displaying, on the displayunit, details of the invitation according to the invitation information.

In a non-limiting embodiment, the control method of the presentinvention is used for the terminal apparatus 2 having the display unit203 and used in the application system 100 which includes the managementserver 3 that issues and manages FNWIDs, each FNWID uniquely identifyinga user, with regard to each of the application servers 4A, 4B, 4C, . . .which provide users with games A, B, C, . . . that are different fromone another, and that manages FNWIDs by associating FNWIDs respectivelycorresponding to each of the application servers 4A, 4B, 4C, . . . withone another for an identical user, and the invitation informationmanagement 16 unit that manages invitation information inviting a userto game A used by an inviting user, the user to be invited having aspecific relationship with the inviting user game B. The control methodincludes sending an inquiry about whether the invitation informationindicating the invitation to game A exists, to the invitationinformation management unit 16 from game B used in the terminalapparatus 2 of the user to be invited; receiving the invitationinformation corresponding to the inquiry; and displaying, on the displayunit 203, details of the invitation according to the invitationinformation.

It is preferable that the above-described control method for theterminal apparatus further include selecting the second application inthe first application used in the terminal apparatus of the invitinguser; acquiring an identifier that is associated with identificationinformation identifying the inviting user, corresponding to the firstapplication, and that has been issued by the management apparatus; andreporting a pair of the acquired identifier and identificationinformation of the inviting user, corresponding to the secondapplication, to the management apparatus through a predetermined path.

In a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the controlmethod additionally includes selecting game B in game A used in theterminal apparatus 2 of the inviting user; acquiring the token Tx thatis associated with FNWIDa identifying the inviting user, correspondingto game A, and that has been issued by the management server 3; andreporting a pair of the acquired token Tx and FNWIDb of the invitinguser, corresponding to the second application, to the management server3 through a predetermined path.

In still another aspect, it can also be understood that the presentinvention provides a computer-readable recording medium having recordedthereon a program for a terminal apparatus having a computer and adisplay unit and used in an application system which includes amanagement apparatus that issues and manages pieces of identificationinformation, each piece uniquely identifying a user, with regard to eachof at least two application apparatuses which provide users withapplications that are different from one another, and that manages thepieces of identification information by associating the pieces ofidentification information respectively corresponding to each of the atleast two application apparatuses with one another for an identicaluser, and an invitation information management unit that managesinvitation information inviting a user to a first application used by aninviting user, the user to be invited having a specific relationshipwith the inviting user in a second application. The program makes thecomputer execute an inquiry process of sending an inquiry about whetherthe invitation information indicating the invitation to the firstapplication exists, to the invitation information management unit fromthe second application used in the terminal apparatus of the user to beinvited; an invitation information receiving process of receiving theinvitation information corresponding to the inquiry; and a displaycontrol process of displaying, on the display unit, details of theinvitation according to the invitation information.

The recording medium is, for example, a non-transitory recording medium,one good example of which is an optical recording medium (optical disc)such as a CD-ROM, and can include a freely selected form of publicallyknown recording mediums such as a semi-conductor recording medium or amagnetic recording medium.

In a non-limiting embodiment, a computer-readable recording medium ofthe present invention has recorded thereon a program for the terminalapparatus 2 having the CPU 20, as the computer, and the display unit203, the terminal apparatus 2 being used in the application system 100which includes the management server 3 that issues and manages FNWIDs,each FNWID uniquely identifying a user, with regard to each of theapplication servers 4A, 4B, 4C, . . . which provide users with games A,B, C, . . . that are different from one another, and that manages FNWIDsby associating FNWIDs respectively corresponding to each of theapplication servers 4A, 4B, 4C, . . . with one another for an identicaluser, and the invitation information management unit 16 that managesinvitation information inviting a user to game A used by an invitinguser, the user to be invited having a specific relationship with theinviting user in game B. The program makes the CPU 20 execute an inquiryprocess of sending an inquiry about whether the invitation informationindicating the invitation to game A exists, to the invitationinformation management unit 16 from game B used in the terminalapparatus 2 of the user to be invited; an invitation informationreceiving process of receiving the invitation information correspondingto the inquiry; and a display control process of displaying, on thedisplay unit 203, details of the invitation according to the invitationinformation.

It is preferable that the above-described program make the computerfurther execute a selection process of selecting the second applicationin the first application used in the terminal apparatus of the invitinguser; an acquiring process of acquiring an identifier that is associatedwith identification information identifying the inviting user,corresponding to the first application, and that has been issued by themanagement apparatus; and an identifier reporting process of reporting apair of the identifier acquired in the acquiring process andidentification information of the inviting user, corresponding to thesecond application selected in the selection process, to the managementapparatus through a predetermined path.

In a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the programcauses the CPU 20 to further execute a selection process of selectinggame B in game A used in the terminal apparatus 2 of the inviting user;an acquiring process of acquiring the token Tx that is associated withFNWIDa identifying the inviting user, corresponding to game A, and thathas been issued by the management server 3; and an identifier reportingprocess of reporting a pair of the token Tx acquired in the acquiringprocess and FNWIDb of the inviting user, corresponding to game Bselected in the selection process, to the management server 3 through apredetermined path.

In still yet another aspect, it can be understood that the presentinvention provides a computer-readable recording medium having recordedthereon a program built in a program of an application installed in aterminal apparatus having a computer and a display unit and used in anapplication system which includes a management apparatus that issues andmanages pieces of identification information, each piece uniquelyidentifying a user, with regard to each of at least two applicationapparatuses which provide users with applications that are differentfrom one another, and that manages the pieces of identificationinformation by associating the pieces of identification informationrespectively corresponding to each of the at least two applicationapparatuses with one another for an identical user, and an invitationinformation management unit that manages invitation information invitinga user to a first application used by an inviting user, the user to beinvited having a specific relationship with the inviting user in asecond application. The built-in program makes the computer execute aninquiry process of sending an inquiry about whether the invitationinformation indicating the invitation to the first application exists,to the invitation information management unit from the secondapplication used in the terminal apparatus of the user to be invited; aninvitation information receiving process of receiving the invitationinformation corresponding to the inquiry; and a display control processof displaying, on the display unit, details of the invitation accordingto the invitation information.

The recording medium is, for example, a non-transitory recording medium,one good example of which is an optical recording medium (optical disc)such as a CD-ROM, and can include a freely selected form of publicallyknown recording mediums such as a semi-conductor recording medium or amagnetic recording medium.

In a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the program thatis built in the program of the application is the program of a softwaredevelopment kit (SDK).

In a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, acomputer-readable recording medium of the present invention has recordedthereon a program for the terminal apparatus 2 having the CPU 20, as thecomputer, and the display unit 203, the terminal apparatus 2 being usedin the application system 100 which includes the management server 3that issues and manages FNWIDs, each FNWID uniquely identifying a user,with regard to each of the application servers 4A, 4B, 4C, . . . whichprovide users with games A, B, C, . . . that are different from oneanother, and that manages FNWIDs by associating FNWIDs respectivelycorresponding to each of the application servers 4A, 4B, 4C, . . . withone another for an identical user, and the invitation informationmanagement unit 16 that manages invitation information inviting a userto game A used by an inviting user, the user to be invited having aspecific relationship with the inviting user in game B. The built-inprogram, when incorporated in the program of game A, makes the CPU 20execute an inquiry process of sending an inquiry about whether theinvitation information indicating the invitation to game A exists, tothe invitation information management unit 16 from game B used in theterminal apparatus 2 of the user to be invited; an invitationinformation receiving process of receiving the invitation informationcorresponding to the inquiry; and a display control process ofdisplaying, on the display unit 203, details of the invitation accordingto the invitation information.

It is preferable that the above-described program built in the programof the application make the computer further execute a selection processof selecting the second application in the first application used in theterminal apparatus of the inviting user; an acquiring process ofacquiring an identifier that is associated with identificationinformation identifying the inviting user, corresponding to the firstapplication, and that has been issued by the management apparatus; andan identifier reporting process of reporting a pair of the identifieracquired in the acquiring process and identification information of theinviting user, corresponding to the second application selected in theselection process, to the management apparatus through a predeterminedpath.

In a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the built inprogram, when incorporated in the program of game A, causes the CPU 20to further execute a selection process of selecting game B in game Aused in the terminal apparatus 2 of the inviting user; an acquiringprocess of acquiring the token Tx that is associated with FNWIDaidentifying the inviting user, corresponding to game A, and that hasbeen issued by the management server 3; and an identifier reportingprocess of reporting a pair of the token Tx acquired in the acquiringprocess and FNWIDb of the inviting user, corresponding to game Bselected in the selection process, to the management server 3 through apredetermined path.

In one aspect, it can also be understood that the present inventionprovides an application system which includes at least two applicationapparatuses that provide users with applications which are differentfrom one another and that manage, for each of the applications,relationship information indicating a specific relationship betweenusers; a user terminal apparatus; and a management apparatus that issuesand manages pieces of identification information, each uniquelyidentifying a user, with regard to each of the at least two applicationapparatuses. The management apparatus includes an issuing unitconfigured to issue, when a second application is specified in a firstapplication used in the terminal apparatus of an inviting user, anidentifier in association with first identification information that isidentification information of the inviting user, corresponding to thefirst application; a receiving unit configured to receive through apredetermined path, after the identifier issued by the issuing unit ispassed from the first application to the second application in theterminal apparatus of the inviting user, a pair of the identifier andsecond identification information that is identification informationcorresponding to the second application; a management unit configured tomanage, in association with each other, the first identificationinformation and the second identification information for which theidentifier issued by the issuing unit matches the identifier received bythe receiving unit, and to manage the relationship information acquiredfrom the at least two application apparatuses; a reporting unitconfigured to acquire the second identification informationcorresponding to the first identification information of the invitinguser and to report the relationship information corresponding to thesecond identification information to the terminal apparatus of theinviting user when the second application is specified in the firstapplication used in the terminal apparatus of the inviting user; and aninvitation information management unit configured to manage, when a userto be invited is specified, in the terminal apparatus of the invitinguser, from among at least one user who is a candidate user to beinvited, identified by the reported relationship information, invitationinformation indicating that the specified user to be invited is invitedto the first application. When an inquiry about whether invitationinformation exists is received from the terminal apparatus, if theinvitation information management unit manages invitation informationspecifying the user of the terminal apparatus as the user to be invited,the reporting unit reports the invitation information to the inquiringterminal apparatus. The terminal apparatus includes an inquiry unitconfigured to send an inquiry about whether the invitation informationindicating the invitation to the first application exists, to theinvitation information management unit from the second application usedin the terminal apparatus of the user to be invited; an invitationinformation receiving unit configured to receive the invitationinformation corresponding to the inquiry; and a display control unitconfigured to display, on a display unit, details of the invitationaccording to the invitation information.

In a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the applicationsystem 100 of the present invention includes the application servers 4A,4B, 4C, . . . that provide users with games A, B, C, . . . which aredifferent from one another and that manage, for each of games A, B, C, .. . , relationship information indicating a specific relationshipbetween users; the terminal apparatus 2 as the user terminal apparatus;and the management server 3 that issues and manages FNWIDs, each FNWIDuniquely identifying a user, with regard to each of the applicationservers 4A, 4B, 4C, . . . . The management server 3 includes the issuingunit 11 configured to issue, when game B is specified in game A used inthe terminal apparatus 2 of an inviting user, the token Tx inassociation with FNWIDa that is identification information of theinviting user, corresponding to game A; the receiving unit 12 configuredto receive through a predetermined path, after the token Tx issued bythe issuing unit 11 is passed from game A to game B in the terminalapparatus 2 of the inviting user, a pair of the token Tx and FNWIDb thatis identification information corresponding to game B; the managementunit 13 configured to manage, in association with each other, FNWIDa andthe FNWIDb for which the token Tx issued by the issuing unit 11 matchesthe token Tx received by the receiving unit 12, and to manage therelationship information acquired from the application servers 4A, 4B,4C, . . . ; the reporting unit 15 configured to acquire FNWIDbcorresponding to FNWIDa of the inviting user and to report therelationship information corresponding to FNWIDb to the terminalapparatus 2 of the inviting user when the game B application isspecified in game A used in the terminal apparatus 2 of the invitinguser; and the invitation information management unit 16 configured tomanage, when a user to be invited is specified, in the terminalapparatus 2 of the inviting user, from among at least one user who is acandidate user to be invited, identified by the reported relationshipinformation, invitation information indicating that the specified userto be invited is invited to game A. When an inquiry about whetherinvitation information exists is received from the terminal apparatus 2,if the invitation information management unit 16 manages invitationinformation specifying the user of the terminal apparatus 2 as the userto be invited, the reporting unit 15 reports the invitation informationto the inquiring terminal apparatus 2. The terminal apparatus 2 includesthe inquiry unit 201 configured to send an inquiry about whether theinvitation information indicating the invitation to game A exists, tothe invitation information management unit 16 from game B used in theterminal apparatus 2 of the user to be invited; the invitationinformation receiving unit 202 configured to receive the invitationinformation corresponding to the inquiry; and the display control unit204 configured to display, on the display unit 203, details of theinvitation according to the invitation information.

It can also be understood that the present invention provides anapplication system which includes at least two application apparatusesthat provide users with applications which are different from oneanother and that manage, for each of the applications, relationshipinformation indicating a specific relationship between users; a userterminal apparatus; and a management apparatus that issues and managespieces of identification information, each uniquely identifying a userwith regard to each of the at least two application apparatuses. Themanagement apparatus includes an issuing unit configured to issue, whena second application is specified in a first application used in theterminal apparatus of an inviting user, an identifier in associationwith first identification information that is identification informationof the inviting user, corresponding to the first application; areceiving unit configured to receive through a predetermined path, afterthe identifier issued by the issuing unit is passed from the firstapplication to the second application in the terminal apparatus of theinviting user, a pair of the identifier and second identificationinformation that is identification information corresponding to thesecond application; a management unit configured to manage, inassociation with each other, the first identification information andthe second identification information for which the identifier issued bythe issuing unit matches the identifier received by the receiving unit,and to manage the relationship information acquired from the at leasttwo application apparatuses; and a reporting unit configured to acquirethe second identification information corresponding to the firstidentification information of the inviting user and to report therelationship information corresponding to the second identificationinformation to the terminal apparatus of the inviting user when thesecond application is specified in the first application used in theterminal apparatus of the inviting user. Each of the applicationapparatuses includes an invitation information management unit, afterthe relationship information corresponding to the second identificationinformation is received from the management apparatus, when a user to beinvited is specified, in the terminal apparatus of the inviting user,from among at least one user who is a candidate user to be invited,identified by the relationship information of the inviting user, andinvitation information indicating that the specified user to be invitedis invited to the first application is sent to an application apparatuscorresponding to the second application, the invitation informationmanagement unit being configured to manage the invitation information.When an inquiry about whether invitation information exists is receivedfrom the terminal apparatus, if the invitation information managementunit manages invitation information specifying the user of the terminalapparatus as the user to be invited, the invitation information isreported to the inquiring terminal apparatus. The terminal apparatusincludes an inquiry unit configured to send an inquiry about whether theinvitation information indicating the invitation to the firstapplication exists, to the invitation information management unit fromthe second application used in the terminal apparatus of the user to beinvited; an invitation information receiving unit configured to receivethe invitation information corresponding to the inquiry; and a displaycontrol unit configured to display, on a display unit, details of theinvitation according to the invitation information.

In a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the applicationsystem 100 of the present invention includes the application servers 4A,4B, 4C, . . . that provide users with games A, B, C, . . . which aredifferent from one another and that manage, for each of games A, B, C, .. . , relationship information indicating a specific relationshipbetween users; the terminal apparatus 2 as the user terminal apparatus;and the management server 3 that issues and manages FNWIDs, each FNWIDuniquely identifying a user, with regard to each of the applicationservers 4A, 4B, 4C, . . . . The management server 3 includes the issuingunit 11 configured to issue, when game B is specified in game A used inthe terminal apparatus 2 of an inviting user, the token Tx inassociation with FNWIDa that is identification information of theinviting user, corresponding to game A; the receiving unit 12 configuredto receive through a predetermined path, after the token Tx issued bythe issuing unit 11 is passed from game A to game B in the terminalapparatus 2 of the inviting user, a pair of the token Tx and FNWIDb thatis identification information corresponding to game B; the managementunit 13 configured to manage, in association with each other, FNWIDa andthe FNWIDb for which the token Tx issued by the issuing unit 11 matchesthe token Tx received by the receiving unit 12, and to manage therelationship information acquired from the application servers 4A, 4B,4C, . . . ; and the reporting unit 15 configured to acquire FNWIDbcorresponding to FNWIDa of the inviting user and to report therelationship information corresponding to FNWIDb to the terminalapparatus 2 of the inviting user when the game B application isspecified in game A used in the terminal apparatus 2 of the invitinguser. The application servers 4A, 4B, 4C, . . . each has the invitationinformation management unit 16, after the relationship informationcorresponding to FNWIDb is received from the management server 3, when auser to be invited is specified, in the terminal apparatus 2 of theinviting user, from among at least one user who is a candidate user tobe invited, identified by the relationship information of the invitinguser, and invitation information indicating that the specified user tobe invited will be invited to game A is sent to the application server4B corresponding to game B, the invitation information management unit16 being configured to manage the invitation information. When a user tobe invited is specified, in the terminal apparatus 2 of the invitinguser, from among at least one user who is a candidate user to beinvited, identified by the reported relationship information, invitationinformation indicating that the specified user to be invited is invitedto game A. When an inquiry about whether invitation information existsis received from the terminal apparatus 2, if the invitation informationmanagement unit 16 manages invitation information specifying the user ofthe terminal apparatus 2 as the user to be invited, the reporting unit15 reports the invitation information to the inquiring terminalapparatus 2. The terminal apparatus 2 includes the inquiry unit 201configured to send an inquiry about whether the invitation informationindicating the invitation to game A exists, to the invitationinformation management unit 16 from game B used in the terminalapparatus 2 of the user to be invited; the invitation informationreceiving unit 202 configured to receive the invitation informationcorresponding to the inquiry; and the display control unit 204configured to display, on the display unit 203, details of theinvitation according to the invitation information.

REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   1: Communication network-   2: Terminal apparatus-   3: Server-   3B, 3C, 3D: Application servers-   TBL11: User information table-   TBL12: ID management table-   TBL13: Companion relationship table-   TBL14: Invitation table-   11: Issuing unit-   12: Receiving unit-   13: Management unit-   14: Accepting unit-   15: Reporting unit-   16: Invitation information management unit (accumulator)-   30: CPU-   100: Application system-   201: Inquiry unit-   202: Invitation information receiving unit-   203: Display unit-   204: Display control unit-   205: Storage unit-   206: Selection unit-   207: Acquiring unit-   208: Identifier reporting unit

What is claimed is:
 1. A terminal apparatus for use in an applicationsystem comprising a management apparatus that issues and manages piecesof identification information, each piece uniquely identifying a user,with regard to each of at least two application apparatuses whichprovide users with applications that are different from one another, andthat manages the pieces of identification information by associating thepieces of identification information respectively corresponding to eachof the at least two application apparatuses with one another for anidentical user, and an invitation information management unit thatmanages invitation information inviting a user to a first applicationused by an inviting user, the user to be invited having a specificrelationship with the inviting user in a second application, theterminal apparatus comprising: a memory configured to store one or moreinstructions; and a processor configured to execute the one or moreinstructions to: send an inquiry about whether the invitationinformation indicating the invitation to the first application by theinviting user exists, to the management apparatus or each of the atleast two application apparatuses that manages the invitationinformation inviting the user to the first application used by theinviting user, from the second application used in the terminalapparatus, the user to be invited to the first application having thespecific relationship with the inviting user in the second application;receive the invitation information corresponding to the inquiry; anddisplay details of the invitation according to the invitationinformation on a display unit.
 2. The terminal apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the oneor more instructions to: select the second application in the firstapplication used in the terminal apparatus; acquire an identifier thatis associated with identification information identifying the invitinguser, corresponding to the first application, and that has been issuedby the management apparatus; and report a pair of the acquiredidentifier and identification information of the inviting user,corresponding to the selected second application, to the managementapparatus.
 3. The terminal apparatus according to claim 2, wherein theprocessor is further configured to execute the one or more instructionsto: report to the management apparatus an invitation request that servesas a basis for the invitation information managed by the managementapparatus and that is for the user to be invited among at least one userhaving the specific relationship with the inviting user in the secondapplication selected by the selection unit.
 4. The terminal apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured toexecute the one or more instructions to send the inquiry about whetherthe invitation information exists to the management apparatus.
 5. Theterminal apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor isfurther configured to execute the one or more instructions to send theinquiry about whether the invitation information exists to theapplication apparatus corresponding to an application that has beenactivated in the terminal apparatus.
 6. A control method for a terminalapparatus having a display unit and used in an application systemcomprising a management apparatus that issues and manages pieces ofidentification information, each piece uniquely identifying a user, withregard to each of at least two application apparatuses which provideusers with applications that are different from one another, and thatmanages the pieces of identification information by associating thepieces of identification information respectively corresponding to eachof the at least two application apparatuses with one another for anidentical user, and an invitation information management unit thatmanages invitation information inviting a user to a first applicationused by an inviting user, the user to be invited having a specificrelationship with the inviting user in a second application, the controlmethod comprising: sending an inquiry about whether the invitationinformation indicating the invitation to the first application by theinviting user exists, to the management apparatus or each of the atleast two application apparatuses that manages the invitationinformation inviting the user to the first application used by theinviting user, from the second application used in the terminalapparatus, the user to be invited to the first application having thespecific relationship with the inviting user in the second application;receiving the invitation information corresponding to the inquiry; anddisplaying, on the display unit, details of the invitation according tothe invitation information.
 7. The control method for the terminalapparatus according to claim 6, further comprising: selecting the secondapplication in the first application used in the terminal apparatus;acquiring an identifier that is associated with identificationinformation identifying the inviting user, corresponding to the firstapplication, and that has been issued by the management apparatus; andreporting a pair of the acquired identifier and identificationinformation of the inviting user, corresponding to the secondapplication, to the management apparatus.
 8. A non-transitorycomputer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program fora terminal apparatus having a computer and a display unit and used in anapplication system comprising a management apparatus that issues, andmanages pieces of identification information, each piece uniquelyidentifying a user, with regard to each of at least two applicationapparatuses which provide users with applications that are differentfrom one another, and that manages the pieces of identificationinformation by associating the pieces of identification informationrespectively corresponding to each of the at least two applicationapparatuses with one another for an identical user, and an invitationinformation management unit that manages invitation information invitinga user to a first application used by an inviting user, the user to beinvited having a specific relationship with the inviting user in asecond application, the program making the computer execute: an inquiryprocess of sending an inquiry about whether the invitation informationindicating the invitation to the first application by the inviting userexists, to the i management apparatus or each of the at least twoapplication apparatuses that manages the invitation information invitingthe user to the first application used by the inviting user, from thesecond application used in the terminal apparatus, the user to beinvited to the first application having the specific relationship withthe inviting user in the second application; an invitation informationreceiving process of receiving the invitation information correspondingto the inquiry; and a display control process of displaying, on thedisplay unit, details of the invitation according to the invitationinformation.
 9. The non-transitory computer-readable recording mediumaccording to claim 8, the program making the computer further execute: aselection process of selecting the second application in the firstapplication used in the terminal apparatus; an acquiring process ofacquiring an identifier that is associated with identificationinformation identifying the inviting user, corresponding to the firstapplication, and that has been issued by the management apparatus; andan identifier reporting process of reporting a pair of the identifieracquired in the acquiring process and identification information of theinviting user, corresponding to the second application selected in theselection process, to the management apparatus.
 10. A non-transitorycomputer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a programbuilt in a program of an application installed in a terminal apparatushaving a computer and a display unit and used in an application systemcomprising a management apparatus that issues and manages pieces ofidentification information, each piece uniquely identifying a user, withregard to each of at least two application apparatuses which provideusers with applications that are different from one another, and thatmanages the pieces of identification information by associating thepieces of identification information respectively corresponding to eachof the at least two application apparatuses with one another for anidentical user, and an invitation information management unit thatmanages invitation information inviting a user to a first applicationused by an inviting user, the user to be invited having a specificrelationship with the inviting user in a second application, thebuilt-in program making the computer execute: an inquiry process ofsending an inquiry about whether the invitation information indicatingthe invitation to the first application by the inviting user exists, tothe management apparatus or each of the at least two applicationapparatuses that manages the invitation information inviting the user tothe first application used by the inviting user, from the secondapplication used in the terminal apparatus, the user to be invited tothe first application having the specific relationship with the invitinguser in the second application; an invitation information receivingprocess of receiving the invitation information corresponding to theinquiry; and a display control process of displaying, on the displayunit, details of the invitation according to the invitation information.11. The non-transitory computer-readable recording medium according toclaim 10, the built-in program making the computer to further execute: aselection process of selecting the second application in the firstapplication used in the terminal apparatus; an acquiring process ofacquiring an identifier that is associated with identificationinformation identifying the inviting user, corresponding to the firstapplication, and that has been issued by the management apparatus; andan identifier reporting process of reporting a pair of the identifieracquired in the acquiring process and identification information of theinviting user, corresponding to the second application selected in theselection process, to the management apparatus.
 12. An applicationsystem comprising at least two application apparatuses that provideusers with applications which are different from one another and thatmanage, for each of the applications, relationship informationindicating a specific relationship between users; a user terminalapparatus; and a management apparatus that issues and manages pieces ofidentification information, each uniquely identifying a user, to each ofthe at least two application apparatuses, the management apparatuscomprising: a first memory configured to store one or more instructions;and a first processor configured to execute the one or more instructionsto: issue, when a second application is specified in a first applicationused in the terminal apparatus of an inviting user, an identifier inassociation with first identification information that is identificationinformation of the inviting user, corresponding to the firstapplication; receive, after the identifier that is issued is passed fromthe first application to the second application in the terminalapparatus of the inviting user, a pair of the identifier and secondidentification information that is identification informationcorresponding to the second application; manage, in association witheach other, the first identification information and the secondidentification information for which the identifier that is issuedmatches the identifier that is received, and to manage the relationshipinformation acquired from the at least two application apparatuses;acquire the second identification information corresponding to the firstidentification information of the inviting user and to report therelationship information corresponding to the second identificationinformation to the terminal apparatus of the inviting user when thesecond application is specified in the first application used in theterminal apparatus of the inviting user; and manage, when a user to beinvited is specified, in the terminal apparatus of the inviting user,from among at least one user who is a candidate user to be invited,identified by the reported relationship information invitationinformation indicating that the specified user to be invited is invitedto the first application, wherein, when an inquiry about whetherinvitation information exists is received from the terminal apparatus,and when invitation information specifying the user of the terminalapparatus as the user to be invited is managed by the managementapparatus, the invitation information is reported to the inquiringterminal apparatus, and the terminal apparatus comprising: a secondmemory configured to store one or more instructions; and a secondprocessor configured to execute the one or more instructions to: send aninquiry about whether the invitation information indicating theinvitation to the first application exists, to the management apparatusfrom the second application used in the terminal apparatus of the userto be invited; receive the invitation information corresponding to theinquiry; and display, on a display unit, details of the invitationaccording to the invitation information.
 13. An application systemcomprising at least two application apparatuses that provide users withapplications which are different from each other and that manage, foreach of the applications, relationship information indicating a specificrelationship between users; a user terminal apparatus; and a managementapparatus that issues and manages pieces of identification information,each uniquely identifying a user, with regard to each of the at leasttwo application apparatuses, the management apparatus comprising: afirst memory configured to store one or more instructions; and a firstprocessor configured to execute the one or more instructions to: issue,when a second application is specified in a first application used inthe terminal apparatus of an inviting user, an identifier in associationwith first identification information that is identification informationof the inviting user, corresponding to the first application; receive,after the identifier that is issued is passed from the first applicationto the second application in the terminal apparatus of the invitinguser, a pair of the identifier and second identification informationthat is identification information corresponding to the secondapplication; manage, in association with each other, the firstidentification information and the second identification information forwhich the identifier that is issued matches the identifier that isreceived, and manage the relationship information acquired from the atleast two application apparatuses; and acquire the second identificationinformation corresponding to the first identification information of theinviting user and to report the relationship information correspondingto the second identification information to the terminal apparatus ofthe inviting user when the second application is specified in the firstapplication used in the terminal apparatus of the inviting user; whereinafter the relationship information corresponding to the secondidentification information is received from the management apparatus,when a user to be invited is specified, in the terminal apparatus of theinviting user, from among at least one user who is a candidate for auser to be invited, identified by the relationship information of theinviting user, and invitation information indicating that the specifieduser to be invited is invited to the first application is sent to anapplication apparatus corresponding to the second application, theinvitation information is managed by at least one of the applicationapparatuses, wherein, when an inquiry about whether invitationinformation exists is received from the terminal apparatus, and wheninvitation information specifying the user of the terminal apparatus asthe user to be invited is managed, the invitation information isreported to the terminal apparatus, and the terminal apparatuscomprising: a second memory configured to store one or moreinstructions; and a second processor configured to execute the one ormore instructions to: end an inquiry about whether the invitationinformation indicating the invitation to the first application exists,to the at least one of the application apparatuses from the secondapplication used in the terminal apparatus of the user to be invited;receive the invitation information corresponding to the inquiry; anddisplay, on a display unit, details of the invitation according to theinvitation information.